Almost Living (But Not Dead Yet)
by LordByronMudkippington
Summary: A Greek religion AU where Maki, the Lord of the Underworld, takes a liking to Rin (aka Persephone). Maki's a loser though, so she's gonna need a bit of help to woo Rin.


**Author's Note:** I originally wrote this fic back in November-December 2015, but read a good fic about the same subject, so I ended up shelving this one. Eleven months later though, I've decided to actually upload it. The title is named after a song by (appropriately enough) Wedding in Hades.

* * *

There was a lot of peace to be had in the Underworld. Sure, it was full of dead people, but they didn't do a lot of talking, and that suited Maki just fine. Her sisters had expressed confusion when she chose to make her domain beneath the great Gaia, but where else could she find such wonderful, silent tranquility? Besides, this was the farthest she could get from Nozomi.

One day, she was taking a walk around the domain of the humans with her three-headed dog, Honoka, when she saw something that stopped her dead in her tracks. There was a goddess walking among the humans. Okay, so that wasn't a strange occurrence, but goodness gracious this was one hot as Tartarus goddess. The mere sight of her made Maki's jaw drop in awe.

A light breeze ran through the girl's short, orange hair, and Maki could've sworn that it was glowing. That smile too: such a happy, contented upwards curvature upon those lips set her heart aflame. She was perfect: jaw-dropping, heart-achingly perfect. Even among immortal beings, there was no comparison. How could such beauty stand to exist for even a moment on the earth, so boring and dull in an unfair comparison?

She had never felt such fiery passion for anyone, and the desire to speak to this goddess among goddesses compelled her feet to start moving forward. Halfway towards her goal, she realized something: she had no idea what to say. Panic quickly set in, but when she decided that no, this was _not_ a good idea at all, and it would be best if she turned right around and went home, she was already standing in front of the goddess. A confused look greeted her, and she gulped as she wracked her brain for something, _anything_ , to say.

"H-Hey there." Oh great. Maki inwardly groaned as she watched her perfectly-crafted reputation start to fall apart at the first signs of a pretty girl. This was definitely not how the Lord of the Underworld was supposed to be acting.

"You're... You're Maki, aren't you?" She knew her? Oh, well, of course! She _was_ the Lord of the Underworld. Who didn't know about her? Maybe this wouldn't be so difficult after all. Her reputation didn't have to suffer an horrendous end.

"Yes, that's right." She couldn't help but smile at hearing her name coming from such succulent lips. It sounded absolutely melodic.

"Mama told me all about you." The young goddess tapped her chin in thought, then her eyes brightened in remembrance. "Oh yeah! Mama told me you're a... you were a... oh, a stubborn tsundere!" And just like that, her smile quickly disappeared. Maki frowned deeply as a blush began forming on her cheeks. That was not quite the initial perception she was hoping for.

"Who exactly _is_ your 'Mama'?" She asked, but with growing dread she had an idea of who it was.

"Mama Nico!" Of course. _Of course_ it was. Maki pressed her face into her palm, groaning outwardly. Why did this have to happen to her?

"Huh, you really _do_ smell like soot." Maybe there was enough room in Tartarus for her to hide and never come out.

* * *

"Wow Maki, that was spectacular!"

"Shut up, Honoka."

"Spectacularly awful!"

"Honoka!" Back in the Underworld, Maki buried her face against her pillow and screamed, trying her best to ignore her dumb stupid dumb... stupid dumb dog laughing at the side of her bed. That had been a disaster of unholy proportions. She was convinced she would never live down the shame of it. How had that girl gotten her to turn into an embarrassing mess without even trying? That was _not_ supposed to happen.

"I've never seen you crushing so hard on someone, Maki. And on Nico's daughter too! You sure know how to pick 'em." Maki groaned and tried to phase through her bed in response. Honoka had a point, though. Nico was very protective of her children, and wasn't likely to be very approving of Maki having a hardcore crush on one of them. That made the girl with the orange hair, whom she finally remembered as Rin, daughter of the mystical and almighty Nozomi, was definitely, without a doubt, unobtainable.

"Ughhh, I can't go talk to her again. I'll look like such an idiot." The want for Rin was the most intense feeling she had ever felt in her life, but that feeling was being countered by shame. Deep, deep shame.

"Well, there's always one person you can talk to, you know." Maki jerked her head up and looked at Honoka, hope fluttering in her chest for a mere moment before crashing back down when her brain caught up to her runaway heart. She knew just who exactly Honoka was referring to, and absolutely nothing good would come of it.

"No, absolutely not. No way in Tartarus am I doing that."

"Well okay then. I guess you could always go back and try again." Honoka begin snickering, serving only to annoy Maki further. "That went so well earlier, I bet it'll go ever better this time." She would never live it down. Never ever ever. That just left one option, the option she never wanted to have to stoop to.

She was going to have to talk to Nozomi.

* * *

"Ahh, Maki! So glad to see you!" Nozomi wrapped her arms around Maki in a huge hug, though she was convinced that her sister was actually trying to smother her to death in her huge chest. When she finally was able to breathe again, she tried to collect herself in order to appropriately swallow her pride and ask for help. This felt awful.

"Look, I want to... ask you for a... a favor."

"Oh? A favor? From lil' ol' me?"

"Yes..." Maki hissed through gritted teeth, knowing from Nozomi's wide grin that she knew exactly what was going on.

"My my, could it perhaps have anything to do with my dear Rin?" Yup, she knew. Maki could already feel her face going red at the recent memory of her horrid first impression, but she was here, so she needed to push forward.

"It... It might." A hand went up to hair and she began to twirl a strand of it around a finger, hating how easy it was for Nozomi to get under her skin. It was really annoying.

"Aww, that means my darling sister is finally growing up! Would you like me to tell you about the birds and the bees, then?"

"No! No! I do _not_ need to hear that- no! Nozomi!" Maki hid her burning face in her hands while Nozomi laughed so hard she fell over. She was going to throttle Honoka for even suggesting this.

"Ahahaha, I'm kidding, Maki, I'm kidding! Ahaha, okay, I'm good, I'm good." She took one look at the clearly-flustered Maki and started laughing all over again. This was going to take awhile.

* * *

"I think I can help you, Maki." Nozomi looked side to side, her eyes furtively glancing around for something, or someone. "You haven't seen Nico around here, have you?"

"I try not to." If it was possible for someone to be more annoying than Nozomi, it was Nico. There was clear enmity between the two, and being in the Underworld all the time gave her an added bonus of never having to deal with Nico's frequent temper tantrums. How Nozomi could even put up with her, much less have a child together, was beyond her realm of comprehension.

"Okay, well I give you permission to give my daughter the Underworld Special-"

"Th-The what?!"

"-But you're going to need something to make this work." Without another word, Nozomi stood up and went off somewhere, leaving Maki standing there in total bewilderment. She wasn't sure whether to follow her, or stay there, or maybe just leave. This was getting to be such a huge hassle... but Rin was so gorgeous... Okay, maybe it was worth it. Maybe.

When Nozomi returned, she was holding some kind of can in her hand. She held it out to Maki, who tentatively took it and gave it a good look over. "... Ramen?" What was this supposed to do?

"Not just any ramen." Nozomi grinned and tapped the top of the can, as if this was supposed to be some kind of magical substance. It just looked like plain old ramen to Maki. "Give this to Rin and she'll come with you to the Underworld without a single complaint!"

"Are you sure?..." Maki remained skeptical, turning the can over in her hands as if some of its power would become clear to her.

"Would I ever lie to you?"

"Just go get your girl, Maki dear!" With a big, encouraging smile, Nozomi pushed Maki forward, the redheaded goddess grumbling the whole way back to Gaia.

* * *

There she was again. She was climbing up a tree, her laughter reaching Maki's ears and sending her already-rattled brain into a tizzy. The can of ramen was clutched tightly in her hands, and she only loosened her grip in the fear that it would burst beneath the pressure. Being nervous was not her style, but right now she was shaking.

Approaching the tree, her existence caught Rin's notice, who jumped down from a branch and landed right in front of her. "Hey Maki! Enjoying the weather?"

"Uh, yeah, ahaha..." Trying to swallow down the lump in her throat was proving difficult, and when words failed her she just shoved the can right into Rin's stomach, trying to hide the fact that her arms were practically vibrating by this point.

"For me?" She nodded stiffly, but Rin didn't seem to notice. Instead, her face broke out in a huge grin, and eagerly she tore the top off with her bare hands, slurping down the substance with all the grace and table mannerisms of a wild animal. It was almost enough to make Maki cringe.

"Mmm, that was delicious! Thanks, Maki!"

"N-No problem." She waited for something to happen, but nothing did. Rin was smiling, but she didn't seem any different. Maybe Nozomi had just been pulling her leg. Ugh, dammit. "H-Hey, Rin, do you, uh, do you- Rin!"

Without warning, Rin collapsed to the ground, the empty can hitting the ground and rolling away. Maki dropped to her knees and gently lifted Rin up, her breath hitching in alarm. When she leaned down to check if Rin was still breathing, she realized that the orange-haired goddess was just sleeping. Relief flooded her body as she set the girl back down.

What had made her fall asleep like that, though? Maki's gaze drifted over towards the discarded can, and a clearer picture formed in her mind. When Nozomi had said that Rin would come with her without complaint... Ohh. She sighed and picked Rin up in her arms, grumbling some more about her devious sister as she carried Rin back down to the Underworld.

* * *

"Are you sure this is okay, Maki?" Honoka watched with concern as Maki placed Rin gently on her bed.

"I'm the Lord of the Underworld. I'll do what I want."

"I didn't know the Lord of the Underworld could only get girls to talk to her by knocking them unconscious."

"Th-That is not true!" Her face went as red as her hair as Honoka gave her three huge grins. This shame was so not befitting her grand stature. "Don't make me put you back on guard duty."

"Awwwww, I don't want to go back to guard duty!" Honoka gave off her best pout, stamping her front paws on the ground. "Nobody will play fetch with me and Yukiho always yells whenever I go swimming in the Styx!" That got her to quiet down, at least, allowing Maki some time to examine her sleeping crush.

Rin looked so peaceful when she was sleeping, a far cry from the energetic girl who not too long before had been climbing a tree for whatever reason. Taking a seat next to her, Maki gently ran a hand through her short hair, letting out a soft sigh of contentment. She wouldn't have minded sitting there for awhile longer, but Rin began to stir, blinking open her tired eyes and stretching out her arms.

"Ahh, that was a nice nap!" She sat up and the first thing she laid eyes on was... "Maki?" Her eyes took her new surroundings, blinking in confusion. This place looked a lot different than anywhere on Gaia. It was all dark and dusty and secluded, plus the Lord of the Underworld was sitting right next to her- Ohh. "Maki... Did you kill me?"

"Wh-What?! No! Of course not!" What kind of assumption was that anyway? Maki crossed her arms and stared at the wall instead. "I-I just... uh... Look, it's not my fault, okay? Nozomi didn't tell me- Urgh!" Now she was beyond flustered, and Rin just looked confused. At any moment now, Rin could decide to stop humoring her and leave, something that Maki didn't want to happen.

"I-It's not so bad here, you know? There's a... a lot of room, and..." Struggling to put together a string of coherent words, her eyes ended up meeting Rin's and then her entire thought process was thoroughly destroyed. "You're really pretty."

"I-I am?" Now it was Rin's turn to blush, though that was nothing compared to Maki, who nearly burst into flames on the spot upon realizing just what she had uttered. Honoka's laughter was not helping matters either.

"N-No! I mean yes! I mean..." Groaning, Maki hid her face in her hands, shuddering with embarrassment. Rin's hand on her shoulder made her lift her head up to find the young goddess giving her a huge, megawatt grin.

"Aww, Maki's so adorable when she's all flustered!"

"A-Adorable?! I am the Lord of the Underworld!"

"An _adorable_ Lord of the Underworld." This time, Maki decided to hide her face against Rin's shoulder, knowing she would never live down this day for the rest of eternity. "You know, it isn't _that_ bad here." That caught Maki's attention, and she perked up at the pleasing tone of Rin's voice. "It does have a lot of room, and you've got a huge lake for fishing!"

"The fish bite," Honoka muttered, causing Rin to giggle in response.

"And it has you too, so that's a pretty nice bonus." There was no way for Maki to become any redder, but she definitely wasn't able to conjure up a proper response, so she grabbed onto Rin's hands instead and held them, amethysts locking with chartreuse as she pushed past her total embarrassment.

"Do you... Will you stay here, then? For a little while?"

"I think I could stay." Rin's smile seemed to light up the room, brighter than any hellish flame. "For a little while." That was fine with Maki. Any time with this wonderful, beautiful, perfect goddess was worth all the trouble she had gone through. They sat there and just held each other's hands, and Maki never, ever wanted to let go.

* * *

"NOZOMI!" The familiar roar rang across the lands, making lesser Gods and Goddesses take cover as Nico stormed over, anger pouring out from her very being. Unlike the rest, Nozomi just sat there with a calm smile, not phased by the tiny ball of pure rage that was visibly shaking before her.

"Hi there, darling. What troubles you on this fine day?"

"You know DAMN well what 'troubles me', you devious witch!" When Rin didn't show up for dinner, Nico had been worried. When she was nowhere to be found on Otonoki, her worries were compounded. Then she wasn't anywhere Nico looked on Gaia... "Where is our daughter?!"

"Hanayo? I believe she's out in the forest, dear."

"Not THAT daughter! Rin! Where is Rin?!"

"Ohh, you want to know where _Rin_ is."

"Yes, and you already knew that I did!" Nico wanted to scream at that trickster face, with those mysterious eyes and aggravating words and kissable lips... Wait, what was she doing?

"I'm sure Rin is just enjoying spending her time with her new fiancé."

"Fiancé? FIANCÉ?! What do you mean fiancé?!"

"I know you don't like her, Nico dear, but Maki is very smitten with Rin, and I think they'll be very happy together."

"MAKIIIII?!" If there was anyone who could drive Nico up the wall more than her own loving wife, it was Maki, that selfish tsundere brat sister-in-law who spent all her time deep inside of Gaia. That was no place for her child to be living. "Absolutely not!"

"Well, I don't know if she really wants to come home yet-"

"I swear, if you gave her that enchanted ramen..."

"And who can really say what Rin may or may not have eaten?"

"You gave her the enchanted ramen."

"So maybe Maki gave Rin the enchanted ramen."

"AHHHHHHHHH!" This was the perfect time to calmly and coolly lose her god damn mind. Nozomi knew how protective she was of their children. How could she just give one away to that so-called 'Lord of the Underworld'? This was a travesty!

"She'll come back, you know." Nico blinked, now giving Nozomi a look of confusion. "The enchantment keeping her there wears off after three months. Should they marry, the two will rule together in the Underworld for those three months. After that, Rin will return to us like normal."

"R-Really? I mean it'd better!" Grumbling, Nico turned and began storming out, shouting back towards Nozomi, "Three months! That's all that stubborn jerk gets! These are going to be cold, cold months without my dear Rin..."


End file.
